Lady Bears Loaded For Another Title Run

Northside is the team that gets circled when the schedule is released.

But the Lady Bears have the next five games circled on their calendar. Northside (15-1, 2-0 7A/6A-Central) is at Conway on Friday, which starts a stretch of five straight league games against teams ranked in the top seven in Arkansas.

“This is the first time in my career at Northside that we’ve played five teams, the next five games that are this caliber,” Northside coach Rickey Smith said. “We’ve played in national tournaments across the country before where we’ve played three really good teams but never have we played five in a row that are in the top six, top seven in the state of Arkansas, all in the same conference. It’s a monumental challenge and something we’re going to work hard at and take one game at a time.”

The Lady Bears have won 44 of their last 47 games. Northside’s lone loss this season came against Ozark, MO in triple overtime. The Lady Bears are also the two time runner up in 7A. Northside returned its top eight players from last year’s team and that continuity has helped with the fast start.

“We work a lot together. The juniors and seniors have been together since last year and that is a good plus for us,” senior Kilah Cummings said.

“Staying focused, working hard and getting the job done,” senior Bria Caldwell said.

Smith is in his 20th season at Northside and his resume is second to none. Smith, who won his 500th career game earlier this season, is 463-94 at Northside while winning 11 conference titles, five state titles and has three runner-ups.

No matter how many wins Smith piles up, he is always worried about the next one.